Adieu Regenmeister!

The best there was, The best there is and The best there ever will be. Nothing could describe him better. He was a tiger on the track. In wet conditions where most people would give up, he was the undisputed king. Am talking about the one and only Michael Schumacher.
Not everyone witnesses a 7 time world champion in action and we’re fortunate to have witnessed history in the making.
Schumi started his career in 1991 with Benetton. He was with Benetton till 1995 and in the 1996 season he switched to the Ferrari team. At a time when Ferrari was not what it is now with inferior engines and a crumbling organization, it was a bold move to make. Ferrari had not won the drivers championship since 1979. This love affair with Ferrari continued till the very end until he announced his retirement on Sep, 10th 2006 after the Italian Grand Prix.
Over the years Schumi developed his skills so much that in wet conditions he was the undisputed king. Such was his dominance in such conditions that he came to be known as the "Regenkönig" (rain king) or "Regenmeister" (rain master).
In the British Grand Prix of the season of 1998, Schumi became the first driver ever to win a race from the pit lane.
The records started tumbling from the season of 2001 when at the Belgian Grand prix Schumi scored his 52nd Career win thus overtaking Alain Prost. 2002 was the year of Ferrari. Winning the 2002 championship led him to equal the 5 time world champion record set by Juan Manuel Fangio. Ferrari won 15 out of 17 races in the season. Schumi also broke Nigel Mansell’s record of 9 wins (the most) in a season. Incidentally he himself held that record as well. He won 11 races that season and had the distinction of finishing every race on the podium. 2003 saw Schumi losing his mother hours before the San Marino Grand Prix and he very befittingly dedicated the race to her by winning it. 2004 saw Schumi win 12 of the first thirteen races, thus breaking his own record of 11 wins in a season. That season he finished with 13 race wins (out of a total 18 possible). He won a record 7th drivers title at the Belgian Grand Prix that season and finished the season with 148 points.
The world’s first billionaire athlete, Schumi won the coveted Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award in 2002 and 2004. In its 7-year history, no other sportsman has been nominated more times than Schumacher, who also received nominations for the 2001, 2003 and 2005 awards.
The last race of his career at Brazil was a race to cherish. Schumi got the best time of all drivers in the first two sessions. However, he couldn’t complete a single lap during the third session due to a fuel pressure problem. He started the race tenth from the grid. He moved on to the 6th position but after Lap 9, he developed a puncture caused by the front wing of Fisichella’s car while he was overtaking him. The unscheduled pitstop led him losing 13 positions and he rejoined the grid at 19th place. It was from this position that he showed everyone why he was a 7 time world champion. Schumi fought back to regain his position, overtook both Fisichella and Raikkonen in two brilliant moves and finally ended up finishing the race at 4th place. He set multiple fastest laps for the race during this time. Inadvertently, being the best driver on the track despite not getting a podium finish.
Acknowledged by his counterparts as being the most fearsome driver to have set foot on the tracks, Schumi literally set the wheels on fire when he raced.
Here’s to the finest F1 driver ever! Cheer’s Schumi! You will be missed :-)

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Some Career Records:
Most championship titles: 7
Most consecutive championship titles: 5
Most race wins: 91
Most consecutive race wins: 7 (in 2004 - European GP, Canadian GP, United States GP, French GP, British GP, German GP, Hungarian GP; record shared with Alberto Ascari)
Most race wins with one team: 72 with Ferrari
Most race wins at the same GP: 8 at the French Grand Prix (Magny-Cours)
Most different GPs (by country) won: 20
Most time between first and last race wins: 14 years, 1 month and 2 days
Most second place finishes: 43
Most podium finishes: 154
Most consecutive podium finishes: 19 (from the 2001 United States Grand Prix, until the 2002 Japanese Grand Prix)
Most points finishes: 190
Most laps leading: 4741 (with a total of 22,155 kilometers (13,758 miles) in 131 Grands Prix)
Most pole positions: 68
Most starts from first row: 108
Most fastest laps: 76
Most doubles (pole position and race win): 40
Most hat-trick (pole position, race win and fastest lap): 22
Most championship points: 1,369
Most consecutive race finished without retirement: 24 (from the 2001 Hungarian Grand Prix, until the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix)
Most championship points in a season for a vice-world champion: 121 (out of a maximum of 180)
Most Wins in a season for a vice-world champion: 7 (ties Alain Prost and Kimi Räikkönen)
Only racing driver ever, in any racing class, to win 5 times at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Only racing driver ever, in any racing class, to win 5 times at Autodromo Nazionale Monza

2004:
Most race wins in a season: 13 (out of 18 races)
Most fastest laps in a season: 10 (out of 18 races; tied by Räikkönen in 2005)
Most championship points in a season: 148 (out of a maximum of 180)

2002:
Most podium finishes in a season: 17 (out of 17 races)

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References: Wikipedia